The world’s longest solar bicycle path is now open

Solutions that benefit cyclists and help solve the climate crisis abound. Case in point, a solar bicycle path that recently opened in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. 

The entire province hopes to be carbon neutral by 2040, and although the new project unveiled last week won’t get them there right away, it is hoped that similar solar pathways can be rolled out on a larger scale in the future. 

Deputy Arne Schaddelee and alderman Madeleine Bakker of the municipality of De Bilt were amongst the first to put two wheels onto the path along with hundreds of students from a nearby school. 

The 330-metre project is the longest solar bicycle path in the world. 

“With this pilot, the province is literally giving the market space to develop and test new products in practice,” Schaddelee says. “We need these kinds of innovations to become energy neutral by 2040 and to stimulate sustainable mobility in the province. This solar cycle path in Maartensdijk fits in with our policy to make the road infrastructure more sustainable and to use less fossil fuels.”

In addition to generating clean energy, the road pavement is used twice, so that no natural or agricultural land is needed and the landscape is not affected. The sustainably generated energy is supplied to the network in Maartensdijk.

“Our municipality is proud that we are participating in this pilot project in collaboration with the province to integrate sustainable energy generation into the infrastructure,” De Bilt says. “This fits in with our ambitions to build a top climate together in our municipality. We want to encourage our students and residents to make as much use as possible of this unique solar cycle path. This is not only good for the generation of sustainable energy, but also for our health and vitality. We look forward to seeing the first results.”